Research at School of Chinese

The School of Chinese includes three programmes: Chinese language and literature, Chinese history and culture, and translation. Each programme supports strong specialized areas of research, while the School as a whole is aligned with two of the University and Faculty’s strategic research themes, “Language and Communication” and “China-West Studies”. Research initiatives in the School span traditional and modern Chinese literature and history (particularly the late imperial period), gender and sexuality in Chinese culture, Chinese women’s studies, sinophone literature, ancient and modern Chinese philology, Chinese-English translation and its theories, ancient Chinese philosophy, cross-cultural communication on science, religions in Chinese history, learning Chinese language online and via mobile applications; Chinese language pedagogy etc.

Strength:

Established strengths of the School have been ancient Chinese philology and late-imperial Chinese history. Most recently the school has supported an expansion into areas currently attracting international research activity. While specializations vary considerably, numerically significant areas or programs include: a) Late-imperial Chinese history and culture; b) Gender and sexuality studies in Chinese literature and culture; c) Sinophone literature; d) Translation, culture and bilingualism; and, e) Chinese language pedagogy.

Achievements

The school boasts a strong research team and has achieved an excellent publication track record, with currently more than half of its staff members conducting GRF, Hong Kong government funded, or collaborative international large research projects. Publication by School staff with major international academic publishers and in internationally referred journals in both English and Chinese have earned the School a high profile in Chinese studies.

The School also has an excellent records supervising research postgrad students, with almost 100 % of PhDs gaining posts as academic staff in tertiary institutions in HK or Mainland China; many of our MPhils have gone on to prestigious international research schools.

With a premium placed on our research environment, regular international conferences have been held in the School addressing the strategic research themes as well as topics and scholars attracting international scholarly interest to Hong Kong. Scholars within the school also support and lead international interest in Chinese Studies through attending major overseas/mainland China and international conferences, organizing/chairing panels on top of presenting papers, and contributing on editorial panels of international journals.

The School is also proud of its status as home base for the renowned international referred journals The Journal of Oriental Studies, and Bulletin of Ming-Qing Studies, both important forums for Chinese cultural studies.